Military

DATE=08/12/03

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

NAME=TAYLOR LEAVES LIBERIA

NUMBER=6-13042

BY LINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS

TELEPHONE=619-3335

CONTENT-

[EDITORS NOTE: FOR SERVICES WISHING ADDITIONAL MATERIAL ON TAYLOR'S RESIGNATION, USE THE U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST WHICH MOVED EARLIER. IT IS NOT DUPLICATED HERE.]

INTRO: The besieged president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, resigned Monday and flew into exile in Nigeria. It is hoped his departure will aid international peacekeepers trying to bring order to the war-ravaged West Africa nation. The U-S press is pleased to see him go, but wary of what happens next. We get a sampling new from V-O-A's _______________in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: With Nigerian troops cheering him on, Mr. Taylor flew off in a civilian jetliner, possibly helping end 14 years of sporadic civil war in Liberia. The country was originally settled by freed United States slaves in the 1800s.

With large numbers of well-armed but undisciplined troops loyal to the government and two rebel factions, the violence may not be over.

Nigeria has about 800 troops on the ground, the vanguard of a 32-hundred-man African peacekeeping force expected soon, probably to be assisted with logistics by a U-S Marine force currently offshore. The Chicago Tribune is one U-S daily that is still wary.

VOICE: President . Taylor's departure . was an essential step toward ending the civil war that has engulfed the country, but only the first step. [Mr.] Taylor ominously vowed that he "will be back," and it isn't clear yet that the rebel forces which opposed him are willing to recognize the interim government of Moses Blah, vice president and longtime ally of the dictator. Though the U-S came under intense pressure to send in troops, so far the strategy embraced by the Bush administration seems to be working.

TEXT: That uncertainty is echoed in This Houston [Texas] Chronicle editorial excerpt.

VOICE: [Mr.] Taylor's departure . may produce a temporary sigh of relief for a majority of the three million Liberians, but there is little possibility that the West African country can shift smoothly from its blood-stained past to a nation of peace and prosperity. Fourteen years of chaos, murder and misrule under [Mr.] Taylor . has produced a generation of Liberians inexperienced in either the rule of law or honest leadership.

TEXT: In Connecticut's capital, The Hartford Courant wants him punished for his alleged crimes.

VOICE: Justice demands that the dictator indicted on war-crime charges be tried by an international tribunal. If . convicted, he should serve time in prison for the bloodbaths for which he is responsible in Liberia and neighboring Sierra Leone. . Given his record, Mr. Taylor's exile to Nigeria could be greeted with two words: good riddance.

TEXT: In Jacksonville, Florida's Times-Union says with so many U-S troops on peacekeeping duties in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans, the United Nations should get more involved in Liberia. In Northern California, The San Francisco Chronicle, like the Hartford Courant, wants him punished.

VOICE: [Mr.] Taylor's departure will with hope bring peace to Liberia, a goal that the [U-S] must play a key role in helping to attain. But promises of asylum for [Mr.] Taylor in Nigeria should not stop a U-N tribunal from pursuing war crimes charges against the hated despot.

TEXT: Jumping on one of his departing quotes, Louisiana's Times-Picayune from New Orleans begs to differ.

VOICE: As he relinquished the . presidency . Charles Taylor said in his defense, "History will be kind to me." No, it won't be.

Mr. Taylor's brutality in his own country and neighboring Sierra Leone are so notorious that he'll only avoid being tried for war crimes if the Nigerian rulers with whom he's sought refuge keep their pledge not to turn him over for trial.

/// OPT ///

Though the valediction he gave Liberians . was filled with self-pity, the residents of his shattered country must have been happy to hear it, if only because it was proof . the depot had packed his bags.

/// END OPT ///

TEXT: Today's last word goes to the Miami [Florida] Herald which worries that inaction by the United States may lead to a power vacuum and more trouble.

VOICE: The departure of president . Taylor is an essential step in efforts to restore peace . but he leaves behind a country in ruins. . [It also] . removes a key obstacle to U-S involvement. So far, only seven U-S Marines have been sent into Monrovia to help, but three U-S warships remain just over the horizon with 23-hundred Marines aboard. Their help is needed not only to open the port and relieve the hunger, but to ensure that civilian aid workers can move about freely.

TEXT: With that comment we conclude this look at U-S editorial reaction to the resignation of Liberian President Charles Taylor.

NEB/ANG/FC